Changing the mindsets? Education and the intergenerational spread of tolerance for physical violence against women in Zimbabwe
利用津巴布韦1980年教育改革作为自然实验，研究发现教育增加能显著降低童年目睹父母暴力者的成年后对女性暴力容忍度，主要通过信息获取、求助行为、劳动市场结果和伴侣教育水平等机制。
We investigate the relationship between childhood exposure to interparental violence and adult tolerance for violent beliefs against women. For individuals who have witnessed parental violence in childhood, our analysis suggests a 14.3-15.2 percentage point (pp) increase in tolerance, highlighting the transmission of violent beliefs across generations. Leveraging Zimbabwe's 1980 education reform as a natural experiment through a regression discontinuity design, we explore the potential of increased education to disrupt this intergenerational transmission. The reform led to an approximately two-year increase in female education, with a more pronounced impact in rural areas. This educational boost is associated with an estimated 4.1-7.9 pp reduction in tolerance for violence, especially among those who witnessed parental violence in childhood. We identify four primary mechanisms contributing to this reduction in tolerance: enhanced access to information, increased help-seeking behaviours, improved labour market outcomes, and higher educational levels among partners. Our findings underscore the effectiveness of educational policies in reducing tolerance for violence against women within low-income contexts such as Zimbabwe, thereby disrupting its intergenerational transmission. Moreover, these results emphasise the potential of education-based interventions in addressing the broader issue of violence against women in low-income countries.